Back Where He Started - Jay Quinn

This was a book from my Litsygoespostal postal book club. In general I liked it and the writing was good. It was an LGBTQ romance, only the second I've read in my effort to read more diversely. I'm not a romance reader and this book reminded me why because it got fairly sappy at times. Also had a bit too much religious undertone for me. I'd like to see more from this author, though probably not romance. Giving this one a 6.5/10

The Year of Living Biblically - A.J. Jacobs

It pains me to give this a poor review. I am an A.J. Jacobs fan from The Know it All and from Drop Dead Healthy (lesser from My Life as An Experiment).

Disclaimer: I am not a religious person, I bought this because I am a fan of Jacobs. This book meandered all over the place and despite his sense of humour I found it pretty dull and in many parts irritating.

Four takeaways that bothered me:

1. Like many who say they are going to "live biblically", picking and chosing passages that work for them and ignoring anything that they don't want to do...drives me insane.
2. The chicken incident, that's all I'm saying.
3. Thanks for the big Anna Karenina spoiler, some of us haven't read it yet!
4. There is a comment following his visit to a church based youth group that said something like "you rarely see atheist youth groups". This irritated me as it assumes only youth in religious affiliation gather together to do good. Let's just ignore all of the non-denominational youth based groups that do great things on their own...not because they are following the bible or doing what they think is expected of them by a higher power. Same can be said for adult groups of all sorts.

This book just irritated me and his wife is a saint! I should have bailed but I finished it.

Until Next Time

Helene
The Canuck Reader

Be Frank With Me - Julia Claiborne Johnson

What an utterly charming book. This is the story of Mimi Banning, a reclusive eccentric"one hit wonder" writer who wrote a classic book and then hid away from her adoring fans. She has money problems and needs to write another book (guaranteed to sell) to bail herself out. 

Her editor sends his star assistant Alice to attend to her daily affairs while she is writing said book, and a major part of her duties involves caring for Mimi's equally eccentric, highly precocial (yet fragile) nine-year-old son Frank. Frank is a unique child who dresses like a 30s movie star and I couldn't help thinking that if you looked up Sheldon Cooper As A Child ( a la Big Bang Theory), Frank's picture would be there. He's a walking encyclopedia of everything you ever wanted to know, and has a dirth of social skills. 

The story is told from Alice's perspective as she navigates the family that is Mimi, Frank, and a mysterious regular vistor named Xander. 

This is a quick read that moves along at a steady pace, and Frank is one of my favourite characters in a long time. I hope we see him again. 

9/10 for me and I will pass this to others over and over again. Hope to see more from this author. 

Keep Reading...

Helene

Year of Yes - Shonda Rhimes

I listened to this as an audiobook and I'm so glad I did, I'm not sure it would have been as fun if I had read a print copy. It kind of felt like Shonda Rhimes was right there having a chat with me, and it didn't feel like someone was "reading" the book to me. That can make or break an audiobook.

As can be  guessed from the title, this book is about the year (and then some) that the author decided to say yes to things that she was nervous about and took her out of her comfort zone. Fellow introverts will identify with her life pre "Year of Yes" (raising my hand here!) and will laugh along with many of her reasons for saying no to invitations. It was nice to get some insight into how a person of her "power"  on TV could still be insecure about social situations.

Grey's Anatomy fans will love this book for the insights into how the show started and grew and the origins of the characters. Sounds like that set is an intense but fun place to be. 

I'm giving this a 9/10 as an audio and it will appeal to many. Would also be a good first choice to anyone experimenting with audiobooks. 

Keep reading!

Helene

The Little Paris Bookshop - Nina George

I really wanted to love this book. The jacket description sounded irresistible: a book seller travels down the river in a book barge giving people the exact book they need to help make everything right for that particular person.

There was a small amount of this in the book, but not enough to justify the description and most of the rest of the story was about a lost love. This tale and the rest was quite disjointed and tended to meander aimlessly in many parts. Not sure if the novel was lost in translation but it made for a rather slow read.

There were a few lovely quotes about books and reading but not enough to ring true.

"Reading - an endless journey; a long, indeed never-ending journey that made one more temperate as well as more loving and kind. "

The worst part is that I  accidentally bought this book twice before I read it, because of the enchanting book jacket summary. Anyone want a copy?

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Helene

The Speed of Light - Elizabeth Rosner

I can't even remember where I heard about this book but so glad I found it. It brings together three individuals who all have their own tragedies to deal with and who are all broken in some way. Through friendship and bearing witness to the struggles each character faces, all gain some strength and a new start, while still honoring the past. Poignant yet powerful.

The Miniaturist - Jessie Burton

After a brief  hiatus I'm back at it, sorry for the absence.

So this book was a page turner for me and was very well written. It's historical fiction and one thing it taught me is I'm glad I wasn't alive in this time period. There were some very dark themes and the social norms in this time and place are horrifying. The treatment of LGBT people is simply shocking. The story was great though and I will watch for other work from this author, great writer.

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Helene